A Man Named Pearl...

FRIDAY,,,yahoo.  Hope this is a better weekend than last cause it rained catz n dogs...Anyways between showers....my friend and I took a drive in search of... amazing stuff and found it!!
I said to my companion, what street is Pearl's Topiaries on?  Before she could even say "I don't know," bang there was the sign!! Second Right!!
So we took the second right... the story goes like this...Mr Pearl Fryar moved into what was mainly a white neighborhood and the fear was that he wouldn't keep his home up to the standards of his neighbors... he was determined to win the Yard of the month award from the local Garden Club!! SO he began to spruce things up just a bit....

And his neighbors liked it so much  they wanted him to spruce up their yards too...

Pearl says don't let obstacles control you...I think he has some very good advise

Now the entire block is legendary!

The yards are more attractive than the homes!

WISH I lived on his block!!
You never know what's out there till you go looking for it!! Just like topiary, its there all along, all you have to do is look for it--check out this YouTube

   


--he is quite a character..and if you're ever in Bishopsville, SC go by and see his street!!

 

PEACE

History...is alive and well

SO Im researching this mass drowning that happened in my community... What you didnt hear about it??
Well thats because it happened back in 1860!! HA-

Meanwhile its so cool as you look for one bit of history you find 10 other bits that you had no clue about..(they dont teach this stuff in school)--Here in my area the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars get all the attention, yet real life history fills the cracks of this place...lots of other things happened ...yes the South was a battle ground and there is a-lot of that history here each and every battle has been recorded, studied, restudied, marked, and such..but to me its the human stories that never made the history books that are fascinating...like this one-
...back in early 1829...
Mr Thomas A Hopkin's mother held a grudge against Mr. Henry G. Nixon's father...she accused him of swindling her outta some land, and I reckon she passed her angry and revengeful story down and onto her son.  So Mr Hopkins called Mr. Nixon out to a duel.  The date was set and they kept it on the QT, least their families should try to talk them out of the fool hearted idea.  Dueling was considered a gentleman's way of restoring Honor to ones name and one's family name....
(this brings to mind Klingon Warriors from StarTrek)...
anyways the duel took place in Augusta a SC/GA border town on the public dueling ground. YEAH...there was such a thing. 

Mr Nixon was the pride of Camden having been born here in 1800 a native (the town was founded in 1787) and with his stellar education he was a lawyer, a SC Legislator, & past chairman of the committe to receive General Marquis de LaFayette, (who helped the budding United States to fight the War of Independence,) when he made his second (and last) visit to the USA in 1825.  LaFayette came to our fair town and dedicated Mr Baron DeKalb's ( a German Rev War Hero's) memorial we have streets named in both their honors and a very old and rather weird looking Cedar tree in our town called the LaFayette Cedar.

SO back to my story...Mr Nixon's father owned the Jackson Hotel....that stood on the corner of King & Broad streets...not far from the Quaker Meeting house and burial grounds.  Mr Hopkins knew his way around a pistol but Henry G Nixon needed a little practice, Im sure he was more adapt at legalese than shooting---so

Mr Nixon went to the Quarker Burial Ground to practice with his pistol, it was written that he fired off the 2 rounds from his dueling pistols aiming at the headstone (placed in 1822) of Scottish merchant Mr Neil Smith...and his wife Isabella....

and then on Jan 15, 1829 exactly 183 yrs and 6 days ago... Mr Nixon was killed in that duel when Mr Hopkins, shot first he fell dead upon the ground...and died with honor intact but his body in ruins...his bereeved father buried him near the Quaker burial ground where he had practiced for this event....in the Old Presbyterian Burial ground and the grief stricken father erected a fence of granite and iron around his sons burial spot.  It was only 2 short years later (1831)that Mr. Hopkins himself would die, they say of grief over his deed.  His grave has since been completely obliterated as a newly cut road encroached on the Swift Creek Baptist Chruch in Boykin, SC and graves were simply pushed aside to make way for progress...

The Jackson Hotel burned to the ground in November of that same yr and the The Nixon family left their beloved Camden in 1833 and went to Alabama and bought a plantation... I wonder how the Nixon plantation fared during Shermans bloody march through the South?
SO I went to the Old Quaker Burial Ground...and I looked for and found Mr Neil Smith, a merchant and his Wife Isabella's headstone...and wouldnt you know look what I found on the backside of that rock....

PEACE

This post is linked to
Taphophile Tragics.

CONFUSED?

What happened to winter? Do you think its coming later or is it not coming at all? This shrub in my yard is in Full FLOWER and thats last yrs fall leaves still hanging on, it doesnt usually bloom until late Feb, early March...

and more flowers are opening around the yard too...bulbs that shouldnt come up until March are UP.......and yet last night and the night before it was 18 and then 25 degrees  EXtreme...and this weekend it will be up around 70 again-

..what was it about how they DIDNT want us to believe that  Global Warming is real? Well I for one believe....the birds that normally arrive here in mid fall didnt arrive until a week ago, I think they are confused also...

Another week is almost crossed off my countdown...hahaha...I hate when time flies because each day is PRICELESS..I would enjoy some cold weather, maybe even some snow...I bought this cool canopy thing for my anticipated travels to parts as yet unknown it will help to expand my space when I set up camp its 10 x 10, I can see it with some grass carpet, a nice table and some party lanterns hanging what do you think? I thought if I waited for it to go on sale there would be none left...so I got it now...I want to add screening to it to keep bugs out--so Im on the look out for a screen surround.  I did see them last yr so I hope to run up on one this yr.

I also hope its going to be easy to put up..cause I'm all for EASY..
I have a string of pumpkin face halloween lights I could use those as my party lanterns? heck may as well use what I have or a strand of christmas Lights may be fun also...I picked up yet another of those camp chairs that I never quite trust you know the ones you sort of eeeassse yourself slowly into and hope it holds you--lol  I have been dumped on my $#@ by one in the past...:=o

I guess if its okay for Mother Nature to have flowers and bees in winter its okay for me to have halloween and christmas lights at my camp spot in Spring and Summer...OH gas jumped up from $2.98 to $3.07, then one day later $3.20, that was this morning, and then on my way home from work it was up to $3.29 jumped almost a dime in 8 hrs...now that IS THE MOST CONFUSING THING SO FAR!! 

           enjoyed this sundog the other evening, it was quite nice to see!!

PEACE